{"id":122456,"date":"2026-04-19T09:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T09:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population"},"modified":"2026-04-19T10:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:14:31","slug":"byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population","title":{"rendered":"Byabashaija Warns Inmates Amid Surging Prison Population"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. <\/strong><\/span><b>The Commissioner General of Prisons, Johnson Byabashaija, has warned inmates against underestimating prison officers despite a significant numerical imbalance between staff and prisoners.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Byabashaija made the remarks during the pass out of 1,238 recruit warders and wardresses for the 2025\/2026 intake at Luzira Prisons.<\/p>\n<p>He highlighted that the Uganda Prisons Service currently operates with 14,852 staff overseeing an inmate population of 79,833 across the country. Of the staff, 13,139 are uniformed officers, 475 are civilian personnel, and 1,238 are trainees.<\/p>\n<p>The inmate population includes 42,886 convicts, 36,286 remand prisoners, and 661 debtors, far exceeding the official holding capacity of 23,184.<\/p>\n<p>Prisons authorities also revealed that inmate numbers are growing at an annual rate of 7 percent, with the population rising sharply over the past decade from 45,920 to the current 79,833.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these pressures, Byabashaija stressed that discipline and authority within the prison system must be maintained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe establishment of a strong and disciplined force ensures that public safety and order are upheld regardless of the numerical challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The ceremony was presided over by the Vice President, Jessica Alupo, who inspected a parade mounted by the newly recruited officers upon arrival.<\/p>\n<p>The recruits later demonstrated coordinated drills, showcasing the skills and discipline acquired during training and signaling their readiness to join active service.<\/p>\n<p>Alupo urged the new officers to uphold discipline and integrity in both their professional and personal lives, warning that misconduct could undermine their effectiveness.<\/p>\n<p>Also in attendance was the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire, alongside representatives from religious institutions and officials from the defence forces.<\/p>\n<p>Otafiire cautioned the recruits against engaging in criminal activities or associating with individuals involved in crime, emphasizing the importance of maintaining high ethical standards.<\/p>\n<p>Of the 1,238 recruits who passed out, 912 are male while 236 are female..<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Uganda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. The Commissioner General of Prisons, Johnson Byabashaija, has warned inmates against underestimating prison officers despite a significant numerical imbalance between staff and prisoners. Byabashaija made the remarks during the pass out of 1,238 recruit warders and wardresses for the 2025\/2026 intake at Luzira Prisons. He highlighted that the Uganda Prisons Service currently [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":122454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-122456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Byabashaija Warns Inmates Amid Surging Prison Population - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Commissioner General of Prisons, Johnson Byabashaija, has warned inmates against underestimating prison officers ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Byabashaija Warns Inmates Amid Surging Prison Population\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Commissioner General of Prisons, Johnson Byabashaija, has warned inmates against underestimating prison officers ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-19T09:29:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-19T10:14:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1776580958.658241.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"607\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Byabashaija Warns Inmates Amid Surging Prison Population\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-19T09:29:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-19T10:14:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population\"},\"wordCount\":301,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1776580958.658241.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/byabashaija-warns-inmates-amid-surging-prison-population\",\"name\":\"Byabashaija Warns Inmates Amid Surging Prison Population - 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